Mr. Trump said on “Fox & Friends” that he had been referring to the possibility that anyone could have taped the discussions. The president said that when Mr. Comey found out that there might be tapes, “I think his story may have changed.”

It was the third time in a week that the trial of a police officer in a fatal shooting of a black man ended without a conviction, and the latest setback for prosecutors and activists seeking greater accountability for the use of deadly force by the police.

The police said on Friday that the cladding material had failed safety tests conducted by investigators. “I know it’s going to be difficult,” said the head of Camden Council, “but Grenfell changes everything.”

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CreditWarmbier Family, via European Pressphoto Agency

5. North Korea defendedits treatment of Otto Warmbier, the American college student who was freed on June 13 and died days later, saying that he had been given medical treatment and treated with respect even though he was a “criminal of the enemy state.”

“To make it clear, we are the biggest victim of this incident,” a spokesman for the North said, calling the family’s accusations of abuse “groundless.”

6. The Trump administration set up the highest-level U.S. contact with Syria in years to try to free an American hostage. Austin Tice, an American journalist and former Marine officer, is believed to have been held by Syria since 2012. Above, Mr. Tice in an undated video clip.

Mike Pompeo, the C.I.A. director, spoke on the phone in February with the head of Syria’s National Security Bureau intelligence service.

That’s Ty Harrington, 17, of Idaho Falls, Idaho. He is among the 30 percent of this year’s three million graduating seniors who will not go straight to college, a number that is ticking up as an improving economy draws more graduates directly to work.